Passport by Nana Mouskouri on Apple Music 21 Songs Album Review The conceit of this double album-length set is that Nana Mouskouri is doing songs from different nations. However, even though Passport is a compilation recorded over a span of over a decade with a variety of accompanists ranging from Mouskouri's original backing group, the Athenians, to the easy listening specialists the Mike Sammes Singers, the albums sounds as if it could have been recorded during one lengthy session. Such is the strength of Mouskouri's jazzy, middle-of-the-road pop style that songs as varied as her biggest hit, "Never on Sunday" (here presented in its original Greek lyrics as "Ta Pedia Tou Pirea"), Paul Simon's "Bridge Over Troubled Water," and the traditional "Amazing Grace" end up sounding pretty much the same. Passport's worth depends entirely on the listener's tolerance for this kind of Eurovision Song Contest style of pop, but few people working in this style in the '60s and '70s were better than Nana Mouskouri.

(Only the great Petula Clark comes immediately to mind.) Although perhaps better known in the United States for her lovely olive-skinned looks and trademark glasses than for her singing, Mouskouri's a genuinely superb jazz-pop singer with a bewitching voice and an ear for material that rises above the occasionally gloppy easy listening arrangements she's often saddled with. Unfortunately, there's more than a few of those arrangements on Passport, but there's also a number of truly impressive songs. Two particular standouts come from rare sessions with producers other than Mouskouri's usual collaborator Andre Chapelle. The countryish "The Loving Song," produced by American hitmaker Snuff Garrett, is a surprisingly solid take on the genre, but 1972's "Four and Twenty Hours," written and produced by the early-'70s British hit factory Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway, is one of Mouskouri's finest singles ever, a mature but remarkably catchy slice of AM radio fluff that predicts the sound that ABBA would take to the top of the charts later in the decade. Customer Reviews by Gheebutter Wow, Nana's voice is the most beautiful thing I think I have ever heard!

You really must listen to her sound, she is angelic. Biography Born: October 13, 1934 in Athens, Greece Genre: Pop Years Active: '50s, '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s, '00s Globally speaking, Nana Mouskouri is the biggest-selling female artist of all time. Her fluency in multiple languages -- Greek, French, English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese -- enabled her to reach audiences all over Europe, the Americas, and even Asia. Possessed of a distinctive, angelic soprano -- the product of having been born with only one vocal cord -- Mouskouri was sometimes described as Europe's answer to Barbra Streisand. Her repertoire was varied enough to support the universal appeal she... Top Albums and Songs by Nana Mouskouri 1. Nana Mouskouri | Biography & History | AllMusic google+ Artist Biography by Steve Huey Globally speaking, Nana Mouskouri is the biggest-selling female artist of all time.

Her fluency in multiple languages -- Greek, French, English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese -- enabled her to reach audiences all over Europe, the Americas, and even Asia. Possessed of a distinctive, angelic soprano -- the product of having been born with only one vocal cord -- Mouskouri was sometimes described as Europe's answer to Barbra Streisand . Her repertoire was varied enough to support the universal appeal she aimed for: jazz standards, well-known pop tunes from before and after the rock era, French cabaret chansons, movie songs, classical and operatic repertory, religious music, folk songs from her native Greece and elsewhere, and more. Television ads for Mouskouri collections (a major North American marketing tool) leave the impression that her chief strength was interpreting familiar songs in that lovely voice; however, her early fame in Europe was built largely on songs written for and associated with her, most notably her first hit, "The White Rose of Athens." She was particularly successful in her eventual adopted home of France, where her trademark large black glasses were viewed as highly unorthodox visual style.

Mouskouri recorded steadily from the 1960s into the new millennium, tailoring specific releases to specific international markets with tremendous success. Ioana Mouskouri (Joanna in English; nicknamed "Nana" from a young age) was born October 13, 1934, on the island of Crete, in the town of Chania (or Carée in French). Her father worked as a movie projectionist, and moved the family to Athens when she was three. Much of her childhood was colored by the Nazi occupation of Greece -- during which time her father worked for the resistance movement -- and the four-year civil war that broke out on the heels of World War II. She started taking singing lessons at age 12, and listened regularly to radio broadcasts of American jazz singers ( Frank Sinatra , Ella Fitzgerald , and Billie Holiday in particular) and French chanson stars ( Edith Piaf , etc.). In 1950, Mouskouri was accepted into the Athens Conservatory, where she studied classical music with an emphasis on singing opera.

In 1957, it was discovered that Mouskouri had been singing with a jazz group by night, and she was summarily kicked out of the Conservatory. Mouskouri began singing jazz in nightclubs, concentrating especially on Ella Fitzgerald repertory. In 1958, she met the emerging songwriter Manos Hadjidakis , who would become her mentor in the field of popular music, and recorded an EP featuring four of his compositions for a small record label that year. The following year she performed his "Kapou Iparchi Agapi Mou" (co-written with poet Nikos Gatsos ) at the inaugural Greek Song Festival; it won first prize, and Mouskouri 's high-profile performance began to make a name for her. At the 1960 festival, she performed two more Hadjidakis compositions, "Timoria" and "Kiparissaki," which tied for first prize; not long after, she made her first appearance outside of Greece at the Mediterranean Song Festival, held in Barcelona. She performed the Kostas Yannidis composition "Xypna Agapi Mou," which again won first prize, and attracted interest from several international record companies.

She wound up signing with the Paris-based Philips-Fontana axis. In 1961, Mouskouri sang on the soundtrack of a German documentary about Greece, which resulted in the German-language single "Weisse Rosen aus Athen" ("The White Rose of Athens"). Adapted from a folk melody by Hadjidakis , it was an enormous hit, selling over a million copies in Germany; later translated into several different languages, it went on to become one of her signature tunes. In 1962, she met producer Quincy Jones , who flew her to New York to record an album of American standards titled The Girl From Greece Sings; not long after, she had a sizable U.K. hit with the pop standard "My Colouring Book." In 1963, she settled permanently in Paris and recorded a Greek-language album; she also sang Luxembourg's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest that year, "À Force de Prier," which became an international hit, and helped win her the prestigious Grand Prix du Disque in France.

She attracted the notice of composer Michel Legrand , who supplied her with two major French hits in "Les Parapluies de Cherbourg" (1964) and "L'Enfant au Tambour" (1965). Also in 1965, she recorded her second English-language album in America, Nana Sings, and found a patron in Harry Belafonte , who brought her on tour with him through 1966, and teamed with her for the live duo album An Evening With Belafonte/Mouskouri . Mouskouri ascended to superstardom in France with her 1967 album Le Jour Où la Colombe, which featured much of the core of her French repertoire: "Au Coeur de Septembre," "Adieu Angélina," "Robe Bleue, Robe Blanche," and a cover of the French pop classic "Le Temps des Cerises," among others. Also scoring with a version of "Guantanamera," she made her first headlining appearance at Paris' legendary Olympia concert theater that year, with a repertoire blending French pop, Greek folk, and Manos Hadjidakis numbers.

The following year, she turned her attention to the British market, hosting a variety series called Nana and Guests; in 1969, she released her first full-length British LP, Over and Over, a smash hit that spent almost two years on the charts. Already maintaining a heavy international touring schedule in the late '60s, Mouskouri spent much of the '70s on the road, broadening her worldwide popularity to levels rarely equaled. In France, she released a series of top-selling albums that included Comme un Soleil, Une Voix Qui Vient du Coeur, Vielles Chansons de France , and Quand Tu Chantes , among others; she also recorded a successful version of "Habanera," from Bizet 's opera Carmen, in tandem with Serge Lama . Elsewhere, her 1975 album Sieben Schwarze Rosen was a significant success in Germany, and her English-language album Book of Songs sold millions of copies worldwide. Mouskouri had another English-language triumph with 1979's Roses and Sunshine, which was particularly popular in Canada.

She scored a worldwide hit with 1981's "Je Chante Avec Toi, Liberté," which was translated into several languages after its widespread success in France, and also helped boost her hit German album Meine Lieder Sind Meine Liebe. In 1984, Mouskouri returned to Greece for her first live performance in her homeland since 1962; from then on, she would record Greek-language albums for her home market. In 1986, Mouskouri recorded "Only Love," the theme song to a BBC TV series that went on to top the U.K. charts; it was also a hit in the French translation "L'Amour en Héritage." That same year, Mouskouri made a play for the Spanish-language market with the hit single "Con Todo el Alma," a major success in Spain, Argentina, and Chile. She released five albums in different languages in 1987, and the following year returned to her classical conservatory roots with the double LP The Classical Nana (aka Nana Classique), which featured some of her favorite opera excerpts.

Mouskouri 's 1991 English-language compilation Only Love: The Best of Nana Mouskouri became her best-selling release in the United States, which had long been the toughest market for her to crack. She spent much of the '90s continuing her rigorous global touring schedule, while recording regularly in French, German, Spanish, English, and Greek. Among her early-'90s albums were the spirituals collection Gospel (1990), the Spanish-language Nuestras Canciones , the multilingual, Mediterranean-themed Côté Sud, Côté Coeur (1992), the self-explanatory Falling in Love Again: Great Songs From the Movies (which reunited her with Harry Belafonte on two songs), and the French Dix Mille Ans Encore . She also dedicated herself to public works, becoming a spokesperson for UNICEF in 1993 and gaining election to the European Parliament as a Greek representative from 1994-1999.

She recorded several more albums over 1996-1997, including the Spanish-language Nana Latina (which featured duets with Julio Iglesias and Mercedes Sosa ), the English-language Return to Love , and the French pop classics set Hommages . In 1997, she staged a high-profile Concert for Peace at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York; it was later released as an album, and aired as a TV special on PBS in America. Meanwhile, a number of Mouskouri retrospectives appeared overseas, including elaborate box sets in both France and Germany. She continued her extensive international touring into the new millennium. The White Rose of Athens by Nana Mouskouri on Apple Music 23 Songs Album Review The rapid spread of Nana Mouskouri's international popularity in the early 1960s is evident in the linguistic diversity of this compilation.

The first eight tracks were recorded in French, in Paris in 1961; the next two in German, in Berlin in June 1961; and the remainder of the 27 cuts (including five songs used in the documentary Greece, Land of Dreams) done in Greek in 1960 and 1961. In comparison to Greek material she did in a slightly earlier phase of her career, from 1958-1960 — handily available on another compilation on the El label, The Voice of Greece — the material and arrangements are somewhat slicker and more pop-oriented, and more apt to use cinematic orchestration on the Paris recordings in particular. But if it's not as striking in toto as the material on The Voice of Greece, there's still plenty to enjoy for Mouskouri fans, and for fans of eclectic, well-sung, early-'60s European pop vocals in general. The songs combine various degrees of mainstream period Euro-pop, slight Greek folk accents, soundtrack music, and light jazz.

The Greek flavor comes to the fore on "Weisse Rosen Aus Athen" ("White Rose of Athens"), which in several languages would help popularize Mouskouri on an international level. Purists might prefer the earlier Greek-language numbers, preserving as they do a more pronounced, indigenous folk feel, and sometimes using more basic musical settings. The tunes from Greece, Land of Dreams often use backing vocals and certainly have a more melancholy feel than the ones cut abroad, which works to their advantage. The liner notes are comprised primarily of a rambling, lengthy excerpt from a recent interview of uncertain origin, but this is still a good way to hear Mouskouri in bulk during the era of her ascendance. Biography Born: 13 October 1934 in Athens, Greece Genre: Pop Years Active: '50s, '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s, '00s Globally speaking, Nana Mouskouri is the biggest-selling female artist of all time. Her fluency in multiple languages -- Greek, French, English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese -- enabled her to reach audiences all over Europe, the Americas, and even Asia.

Possessed of a distinctive, angelic soprano -- the product of having been born with only one vocal cord -- Mouskouri was sometimes described as Europe's answer to Barbra Streisand. Her repertoire was varied enough to support the universal appeal she... Top Albums and Songs by Nana Mouskouri 1. Nana Mouskouri - The Greek Singer Nana Mouskouri Return to Content Nana Mouskouri Nana Mouskouri is the biggest-selling Greek singer of all time. The fluency of Nana Mouskouri in multiple languages -- Greek, French, English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese -- enabled her to reach audiences all over Europe, the Americas, and even Asia. Mouskouri possessed of a distinctive, angelic soprano -- the product of having been born with only one vocal cord. Nana Mouskouri was sometimes described as Europe's answer to Barbra Streisand. Her repertoire was varied enough to support the universal appeal she aimed for: jazz standards, well-known pop tunes from before and after the rock era, French cabaret chansons, movie songs, classical and operatic repertory, religious music, Greek folk songs and more.

Nana Mouskouri Biography of Mouskouri Ioanna Mouskouri (Joanna in English; known as "Nana" from a young age) was born on October 13, 1934, on the island of Crete, in the town of Chania. Her father worked as a movie projectionist and moved the family to Athens when she was three. Much of her childhood was colored by the Nazi occupation of Greece - during which time her father joined the resistance - and the four-year civil war that broke out in Greece after the end of World War II. Nana Mouskouri started singing lessons at the age of 12, and listened regularly to radio broadcasts of American jazz singers (Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and Billie Holiday in particular) and French chanson stars (Edith Piaf, etc.). In 1950, Mouskouri was accepted into the Athens Conservatory, where she studied classical music with an emphasis on singing opera. In 1957, it was discovered that Mouskouri had been singing with a jazz group by night, and she was summarily kicked out of the Conservatory.

Nana Mouskouri - Her Marriages and Family Mouskouri married Yorgos Petsilas in 1961, the leader of popular Greek trio "The Athenians", who became her backing band for many years. Mouskouri and Petsilas had two children, a son, Nicolas, born on 13 February 1968 and a daughter, Hélène, nicknamed Lénou, born on 6 July 1970. In 1974, Mouskouri and Petsilas separated and in 1975 were officially divorced. Mouskouri currently lives primarily in Switzerland, with her second husband, André Chapelle, whom she married on 13 January 2003. Andre Chapelle is a music producer, and has been her patient companion since shortly after her divorce, but marriage has given the couple a surprise kick along.

Nana Mouskouri : Her Career Manos Hadjidakis , who would become her mentor in the field of popular music, and recorded an EP featuring four of his compositions for a small record label that year, became the main composer of songs for Mouskouri, since he found the ideal voice for his tunes and sounds. The following year Mouskouri performed Hadjidakis' song "Kapou Iparchi Agapi Mou" (co-written with poet Nikos Gatsos ) at the inaugural Greek Song Festival; it won first prize, and Mouskouri's high-profile performance began to make a name for her. At the 1960 festival, she performed two more Hadjidakis' compositions, "Timoria" and "Kiparissaki," which tied for first prize; not long after, she made her first appearance outside of Greece at the Mediterranean Song Festival, held in Barcelona. Nana Mouskouri performed the Kostas Yannidis composition "Ksypna Agapi Mou," which again won first prize, and attracted interest from several international record companies. She wound up signing with the Paris-based Philips-Fontana axis.

International Career for the Greek Singer Nana Mouskouri In 1961, Mouskouri sang on the soundtrack of a German documentary about Greece, which resulted in the German-language single "Weisse Rosen aus Athen" ("The White Rose of Athens"). Adapted from a folk melody by Manos Hadjidakis, it was an enormous hit, selling over a million copies in Germany; later translated into several different languages, it went on to become one of her signature tunes. In 1962, she met producer Quincy Jones, who flew her to New York to record an album of American standards titled "The Girl From Greece Sings". Not long after, she had a sizable U.K. hit with the pop standard "My Colouring Book." In 1963, she settled permanently in Paris and recorded a Greek-language album; she also sang Luxembourg's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest that year, "À Force de Prier," which became an international hit, and helped win her the prestigious Grand Prix du Disque in France.

Nana Mouskouri attracted the notice of composer Michel Legrand, who supplied her with two major French hits in "Les Parapluies de Cherbourg" (1964) and "L'Enfant au Tambour" (1965). Also in 1965, she recorded her second English-language album in America, "Nana Sings", and found a patron in Harry Belafonte, who brought her on tour with him through 1966, and teamed with her for the live duo album "An Evening With Belafonte/Mouskouri". Mouskouri ascended to superstardom in France with her 1967 album "Le Jour Où la Colombe", which featured much of the core of her French repertoire: "Au Coeur de Septembre", "Adieu Angélina", "Robe Bleue, Robe Blanche" and a cover of the French pop classic "Le Temps des Cerises", among others.

Also scoring with a version of "Guantanamera," she made her first headlining appearance at Paris' legendary Olympia concert theater that year with a repertoire blending French pop, Greek folk and Manos Hadjidakis songs. The following year, she turned her attention to the British market, hosting a variety series called "Nana and Guests" In 1969 she released her first full-length British LP "Over and Over", a smash hit that spent almost two years on the charts. Already maintaining a heavy international touring schedule in the late 1960s, Mouskouri spent much of the 1970s on the road, broadening her worldwide popularity to levels rarely equaled. In France, she released a series of top-selling albums that included "Comme un Soleil", "Une Voix Qui Vient du Coeur", "Vielles Chansons de France" and "Quand Tu Chantes", among others; she also recorded a successful version of "Habanera," from Bizet's opera Carmen, in tandem with Serge Lama.

Her 1975 album "Sieben Schwarze Rosen" became a significant success in Germany, and her English-language album "Book of Songs" sold millions of copies worldwide. Mouskouri had another English-language triumph with 1979's "Roses and Sunshine", which was particularly popular in Canada. She scored a worldwide hit with 1981's "Je Chante Avec Toi, Liberté," which was translated into several languages after its widespread success in France, and also helped boost her hit German album "Meine Lieder Sind Meine Liebe". In 1984, Mouskouri returned to Greece for her first live performance in her homeland since 1962; from then on, she would record Greek-language albums for her home market. In 1986, Mouskouri recorded "Only Love," the theme song to a BBC TV series that went on to top the U.K. charts; it was also a hit in the French translation "L'Amour en Héritage." That same year, Mouskouri made a play for the Spanish-language market with the hit single "Con Todo el Alma," a major success in Spain, Argentina, and Chile.

She released five albums in different languages in 1987, and the following year returned to her classical conservatory roots with the double LP "The Classical Nana" (aka Nana Classique), which featured some of her favorite opera excerpts. Mouskouri's 1991 English-language compilation "Only Love: The Best of Nana Mouskouri" became her best-selling release in the United States, which had long been the toughest market for her to crack. She spent much of the '90s continuing her rigorous global touring schedule, while recording regularly in French, German, Spanish, English and Greek. Among her early-'90s albums were the spirituals collection "Gospel" (1990), the Spanish-language "Nuestras Canciones", the multilingual, Mediterranean-themed "Côté Sud, Côté Coeur" (1992), the self-explanatory "Falling in Love Again: Great Songs From the Movies" (which reunited her with Harry Belafonte on two songs), and the French "Dix Mille Ans Encore".

Nana Mouskouri also dedicated herself to public works, becoming a spokesperson for UNICEF in 1993 and gaining election to the European Parliament as a Greek representative from 1994-1999. She recorded several more albums over 1996-1997, including the Spanish-language "Nana Latina" (which featured duets with Julio Iglesias and Mercedes Sosa), the English-language "Return to Love", and the French pop classics set "Hommages". In 1997, she staged a high-profile Concert for Peace at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York; it was later released as an album, and aired as a TV special on PBS in America. Meanwhile, a number of Mouskouri retrospectives appeared overseas, including elaborate box sets in both France and Germany. She continued her extensive international touring into the new millennium. Nana Mouskouri - The Retirement Nana Mouskouri currently lives in Switzerland with Chapelle, and up until her final performance in 2008 performed hundreds of concerts every year throughout her career.

In 2004, her French record company released an unprecedented 34-CD box set of more than 600 of Mouskouri's mostly-French songs. In 2006 she made a guest appearance at that year's Eurovision Song Contest which was held, for the first time ever, in her native Greece. In the same year, she announced her plans to retire. From 2006 until 2008, she conducted a farewell concert tour of Europe, Australia, Asia, South America, the United States and Canada. On July 23, 2008, Mouskouri gave her final 'Farewell Concert' performance at the ancient Herodes Atticus Theatre, in Athens, Greece, before a packed stadium, including Greece's Prime Minister and the Mayor of Athens, plus the mayors of Berlin, Paris and Luxembourg, along with fans from around the world and thousands of her Athenian admirers. Nana Mouskouri is a great chapter for Greek Music and one of the most beloved Greek singers both in Greece and abroad.

7 Responses to Nana Mouskouri peter kirima September 11, 2010 at 12:03 # grew up listening to nana mouskouri.i am a kenyan living in the capital Nairobi and nana's popularity is tremendously wide in Africa.all i wonder is why she never found an opportunity to perform in africa! we love her,i love her music..... Nana Mouskouri · 2017 Tour Dates and Concert Tickets | Thrillcall Track Artist for New Show Alerts Nana Mouskouri (Greek: Nάνα Μούσχουρη, pronounced ˈnana ˈmusxuri), born Iōánna Moúschouri (Greek: Ιωάννα Μούσχουρη ioˈana ˈmusxuri) on October 13, 1934, in Chania, Crete, Greece, is a Greek singer. She was known as "Nána" to her friends and family as a ...

Nana Mouskouri (Greek: Nάνα Μούσχουρη, pronounced ˈnana ˈmusxuri), born Iōánna Moúschouri (Greek: Ιωάννα Μούσχουρη ioˈana ˈmusxuri) on October 13, 1934, in Chania, Crete, Greece, is a Greek singer. She was known as "Nána" to her friends and family as a child. She has recorded songs in many languages, including Greek, French, English, German, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Hebrew, Welsh, Mandarin Chinese, Corsican, and Turkish. Early years: Nana Mouskouri's family lived in Chania, Crete, where her father, Constantine, worked as a film projectionist in a local cinema; her mother, Alice, worked in the same cinema as an usherette. When Mouskouri was three, her family moved to Athens. Mouskouri's family sent her and her older sister Eugenía (Jenny) to the Athens Conservatoire.

Although Mouskouri had displayed exceptional musical talent from age six, Jenny initially appeared to be the more gifted sibling. Financially unable to support both girls' studies, the parents asked their tutor which one should continue. The tutor conceded that Jenny had the better voice, but Nana was the one with the true inner need to sing. Mouskouri has said that a medical examination revealed a difference in her two vocal cords and this could well account for her remarkable singing voice (in her younger years ranging from a husky, dark alto, which she later dropped, to a ringing coloratura mezzo), as opposed to her breathy, raspy speaking voice. Mouskouri's childhood was marked by the German Nazi occupation of Greece. Her father became part of the anti-Nazi resistance movement in Athens. Mouskouri began singing lessons at age 12. As a child, she listened to radio broadcasts of singers such as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and Édith Piaf. In 1950, she was accepted at the Conservatoire. She studied classical music with an emphasis on singing opera.

After eight years at the Conservatoire, Mouskouri was encouraged by her friends to experiment with jazz music. She began singing with her friends' jazz group at night. However, when Mouskouri's Conservatory professor found out about Mouskouri's involvement with a genre of music that was not in keeping with her classical studies, he prevented her from sitting for her end-of-year exams. During an episode of "Joanna Lumley's Greek Odyssey", shown on the UK ITV channel in the autumn of 2011, Mouskouri told the actress Joanna Lumley of how she had been scheduled to sing at the amphitheatre at Epidauros with other students of the Conservatoire, when upon arrival at the amphitheatre word came through from the Conservatoire in Athens that she had just been barred from participating in the performance there due to her involvement in light music. Mouskouri subsequently left the Conservatoire and began performing at the Zaki club in Athens. She began singing jazz in nightclubs with a bias towards Ella Fitzgerald repertoire. In 1957, she recorded her first song, Fascination, in both Greek and English for Odeon/EMI Greece.

By 1958 while still performing at the Zaki, she met Greek composer Manos Hadjidakis. Hadjidakis was impressed by Nana's voice and offered to write songs for her. In 1959 Mouskouri performed Hadjidakis' Kapou Iparchi I Agapi Mou (co-written with poet Nikos Gatsos) at the inaugural Greek Song Festival. The song won first prize, and Mouskouri began to be noticed. At the 1960 Greek Song Festival, she performed two more Hadjidakis compositions, Timōría ("Punishment") and Kyparissáki ("Little cypress"). Both these songs tied for first prize. Mouskouri performed Kostas Yannidis' composition, Xypna Agapi Mou ("Wake up, my love"), at the Mediterranean Song Festival, held in Barcelona that year. The song won first prize, and she went on to sign a recording contract with Paris-based Philips-Fontana. In 1961, Mouskouri performed the soundtrack of a German documentary about Greece. This resulted in the German-language single Weiße Rosen aus Athen ("White Roses from Athens").

The song was originally adapted by Hadjidakis from a folk melody. It became a success, selling over a million copies in Germany. The song was later translated into several languages and it went on to become one of Mouskouri's signature tunes. Family life: Mouskouri has been married twice: firstly at 25, to Yorgos (George) Petsilas, a guitarist in her backing band (the trio "The Athenians") and the first man she had kissed. They had two children (Nicolas Petsilas in 1968 and Hélène (Lénou) Petsilas (singer) in 1970) but divorced when Mouskouri was 39. Not long after that, she met her second husband, André Chapelle, then her sound technician, but they did not marry then because she "didn't want to bring another father into the family" and divorce was against her conservative upbringing. They eventually married on 13 January 2003, and live primarily in Switzerland. Life outside Greece: In 1960, Mouskouri moved to Paris.

Mouskouri performed Luxembourg's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1963 that year, "À force de prier". Although the song only achieved eighth place in the contest, it achieved commercial success, and helped win her the prestigious Grand Prix du Disque in France. Mouskouri soon attracted the attention of French composer Michel Legrand, who composed two songs which became major French hits for her: "Les Parapluies de Cherbourg" (1964) and an arrangement of Katherine K. Davis's "Carol of the Drum", "L'Enfant au Tambour" (1965). In 1962, she met Quincy Jones, who persuaded her to travel to New York City to record an album of American jazz titled The Girl from Greece Sings. Following that she scored another hit in the United Kingdom with My Colouring Book. In 1965, she recorded her second English-language album to be released in the United States, entitled Nana Sings. American singer Harry Belafonte heard and liked the album. Belafonte brought Mouskouri on tour with him through 1966.

They teamed for a duo album entitled An Evening With Belafonte/Mouskouri. During this tour, Belafonte suggested that Mouskouri remove her signature black-rimmed glasses when on stage. She was so unhappy with the request that she wanted to quit the show after only two days. Finally, Belafonte relented and respected her wish to perform while wearing glasses. Mouskouri's 1967 French album Le Jour où la colombe raised her to super-stardom in France. This album featured many of her French songs, Au cœur de septembre, Adieu Angélina, Robe bleue, robe blanche and the French pop classic Le Temps des cerises. Mouskouri made her first appearance at Paris' legendary Olympia concert theatre the same year, singing French pop, Greek folk, and Hadjidakis numbers. In 1968, five years after her appearance at the Eurovision Song Contest which had been produced by the BBC, Mouskouri was invited with her backing group, the Athenians, to host a BBC TV series called Presenting... Nana Mouskouri.

Each episode of the series typically contained songs from her repertoire of Greek folk music, French chansons, classical pieces and contemporary pop, and the shows often featured world music stars of the time, which made it one of the first BBC TV series to do so regularly. The series remained very popular with British viewers throughout its eight-year run, despite the fact that stars from mainland Europe singing foreign-language material have tended to find it difficult to break into the British market. Mouskouri would welcome the television audience and chat to her guest stars in fluent English, as well as perform some British and American songs as part of her shows, and this led to a very positive reaction from the largely monolingual British audience. As the producer of the series, Yvonne Littlewood, later explained, Mouskouri was very different to the majority of the singers who were popular in Britain at that time: "I liked the voice and I thought she had a personality... I suppose it was unusual to see a singer wearing glasses. She didn't look like everyone else. She didn't have blonde hair, and she was very distinctive in her appearance. ...

You know, we should remember that, in those days, we didn't have all the holiday programmes, so Greek music and anything Greek wasn't as well known to the average public as it is now. She would give the gist in English of the subject of the song before she sang it, and that was really quite unique and quite charming." In 1969, Mouskouri released a full-length British LP, Over and over, which reached number 10 and spent almost two years in the UK album charts. This was the first of a series of English-language albums which, boosted by her TV appearances, sold extremely well in the UK and Ireland during the early 1970s, including The exquisite Nana Mouskouri (1969), Turn on the sun (1970), A place in my heart (1971) and Presenting... Nana Mouskouri (1973), while concerts from two of her British tours were also recorded and released as LPs: British Concert (1972) and Live at the Albert Hall (1974).

Although her last annual British TV series was in 1976, the BBC engaged Mouskouri for various one-off television specials until the mid-1980s. Her international appeal had encouraged the broadcaster to sell her programmes to television stations in other parts of Europe and around the world, and during the 1970s, Mouskouri was also hosting her own shows on French and West German TV. Without doubt, her popularity as a multilingual television personality rapidly increased her global profile during this period. She expanded her concert tour to include not only the United Kingdom, but also Ireland, New Zealand, Japan and Australia, where she met and befriended Frank Hardy, who followed her to the south of France in 1976.

Always a prolific recording artist, the 1970s saw her record several LPs in German, including the hit albums, Sieben schwarze Rosen (1975) and Lieder, die die Liebe schreibt (1978), while in France, she released a series of top-selling records, such as Comme un soleil (1971), Une voix qui vient du cœur (1972), Vieilles chansons de France (1973), and Quand tu chantes (1976). Meanwhile, Passport, a compilation of her most popular songs in English, reached number 3 in the UK album charts in 1976 and won for her a gold disc. During the decade, she also recorded several Japanese songs for the Japanese market. Middle years: In 1979, Mouskouri released another English-language album named Roses and Sunshine. This album consisting largely of folk and country material, and included work from sources as Neil Young, Dolly Parton, Bob Dylan and John Denver.

It was well received in Canada, and one of the album's tracks, "Even Now" (not the same song as the 1978 Barry Manilow hit), became a staple on beautiful music radio stations in the United States. She scored a worldwide hit in 1981 with Je Chante Avec Toi, Liberté, which was translated into several languages after its success in France. The momentum from this album also helped boost her following German album, Meine Lieder sind mein Leben. In 1984, Mouskouri returned to Greece for her first live performance in her homeland since 1962. In 1985, Mouskouri recorded Only Love, the theme song to the British TV series Mistral's Daughter -- based upon the novel by Judith Krantz -- which reached number 2 in the UK charts. The song was also a hit in its other versions: L'Amour en Héritage (French), Come un'eredità (Italian), La dicha del amor (Spanish), and Aber die Liebe bleibt (German).

The German version was also recorded with an alternate set of lyrics under the title Der wilde Wein but was withdrawn in favour of Aber die Liebe bleibt. That same year, Mouskouri made a play for the Spanish-language market with the hit single Con Toda el Alma. The song was a major success in Spain, Argentina and Chile. She released five albums in different languages in 1987, and the following year returned to her classical conservatory roots with the double LP The Classical Nana (a.k.a. Nana Classique), which featured adaptations of classical songs and excerpts from opera. By the end of 1987, she had performed a series of concerts in Asia, including South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand. Later years: Mouskouri's 1991 English album, Only Love: The Best of Nana Mouskouri, became her best-selling release in the United States. She spent much of the 1990s touring the globe.

Among her early 1990s albums were spiritual music, Gospel (1990), the Spanish-language Nuestras Canciones, the multilingual, Mediterranean-themed Côté Sud, Côté Coeur (1992), Dix Mille Ans Encore, Falling in Love Again: Great Songs From the Movies. Falling in Love featured two duets with Harry Belafonte. In 1993, Mouskouri recorded the album Hollywood. Produced by Michel Legrand it was a collection of famous songs from films, and served not only as a tribute to the world of cinema, but also as a personal reference to childhood memories of sitting with her father in his projection room in Crete. She recorded several more albums over 1996 and 1997, including the Spanish Nana Latina (which featured duets with Julio Iglesias and Mercedes Sosa), the English-language Return to Love, and the French pop classics, Hommages. In 1997, she staged a high-profile Concert for Peace at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York. This concert was later released as an album, and aired as a TV special on PBS in the United States.

On 30 May 2013, Mouskouri was awarded an honorary degree by McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. UNICEF and politics: Mouskouri was appointed a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in October 1993. She took over from the previous ambassador, the recently deceased actress Audrey Hepburn. Mouskouri's first U.N. mission took her to Bosnia to draw attention to the plight of children affected by Bosnian war. She went on to give a series of fund-raising concerts in Sweden and Belgium. She was a Member of the European Parliament through the New Democracy party from 1994 until 1999, when she resigned from her position as an MEP. Several reasons have been given for this, one being her pacifism, and another being that she felt ill-equipped for the day-to-day work of a politician. 21st century and retirement: Mouskouri lives in Switzerland with Chapelle, and, until her final performance in 2008, performed hundreds of concerts every year throughout her career.

In 2004, her French record company released a 34-CD box set of more than 600 of Mouskouri's mostly French songs. In 2006 she made a guest appearance at that year's Eurovision Song Contest which was held, for the first time ever, in her native Greece. In the same year, she announced her plans to retire. From 2005 until 2008, she conducted a farewell concert tour of Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Asia, South America, the United States, and Canada. On July 23 and 24, 2008, Mouskouri gave her two final 'Farewell Concert' performances at the ancient Herodes Atticus Theatre, in Athens, Greece, before a packed stadium, including Greece's Prime Minister and Athens mayor, plus the mayors of Berlin, Paris and Luxembourg, along with fans from around the world and thousands of her Athenian admirers. In 2010, in response to the financial crisis in Greece, Mouskouri announced that she would forgo her pension to contribute to the country's recovery.

She commented: "Everywhere I see stories about my country going bankrupt. And people are aggressive about it. It's frightening. And it's painful for me. Nobody wants their country to be treated badly. It's frustrating and very sad." In late 2011, Mouskouri released two newly recorded CDs, the first featuring songs of the Greek Islands, recorded with other Greek singers, and the second featuring duets with French contemporaries. In late November 2011 Mouskouri sang again at a single concert, with guests, in Berlin, commemorating the 50th anniversary of her hit single "The White Rose of Athens". She then did a concert tour in Germany in 2012. Cultural references: The British comedian Benny Hill impersonated Mouskouri on The Benny Hill Show. Wearing a long dress, large glasses and long black hair, he talked and sang with a slow and quiet voice. He introduced a song with a long translation into English of all the events supposedly mentioned in the song... and then sang just a single line of "Greek". This sketch from 1972 was later used as part of the 1974 compilation movie The Best of Benny Hill.

Andrea Martin played Mouskouri in a sketch, 'The Nana Mouskouri Story', during the 1981-1982 season of SCTV (later included in a DVD compilation.) Partial discography:

Question: What was the name of Nana Mouskouri’s backing group
Answer: The Athenians